Customer Reviews

Green Festival Samui

Green Festival SamuiBy Jules kay

Koh Samui's annual Green Island Festival takes place this month with events to be hosted at various venues around the island in order to raise awareness about the environment and approaches to healthy living. The Samui Mala, as it is known, is now in its fourth year and many of its volunteers and partners are actively involved in protecting the island's environment on a regular basis.

Saturday September 18 marks opening the Mala with a day of "discovering and sharing peace". This will be hosted by Yoga Thailand. On September 23 the Full Moon collides with the fall equinox. Samui's Art and Culture centre, June's Cafe will be open for this Seva Day, offering free healthy food and drink in exchange for a donation towards worthy projects. Seva day also includes open performances of music and poetry with guests invited to bring an instrument, read a poem or just to go and listen.

Friday September 24 the Samui Jazz Festival kicks off and will continue well into the following week showcasing over 100 Thai and International artists. Although not an official Green event, Samui Jazz will donate some of the funds raised during the event to environmental initiatives organised by Samui Mala.

On September 25, Samui Mala's Children's' day will take place at International School Samui with fun, games and demonstrations designed for the kids to help build their understanding of green issues. Finally, on September 26 Samui's world famous Wellness Sanctuary and Holistic Spa, Kamalaya will offer people the chance to experience the various elements of healing practice, with a full day of sharing healing teachings.

A "Mala" is a string of beads, representing individual elements united by a common thread. By drawing various groups, organisations and businesses together, the local residents involved in Samui Mala combine action, events, education or networking, sharing skills, knowledge, techniques and suggestions to help create a more harmonious and healthy island environment.